Talk:Douglas Reid Kinnier
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[edit]ORTEGA was built in 1906 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of7970grt, a length of 465ft 4in, a beam of 56ft 4in and a service speed of 15.5 knots. Launched on 22nd March 1906 she commenced her maiden voyage to Callao on 19th July and introduced to the route the Bibby tandem cabin whereby all passengers had a porthole. When the First World War was declared on 4th August 1914 she was at Montevideo en route to Callao under the command of Capt Douglas Kinnier. On 16th September she sailed from Valparaiso, bound for Liverpool, and was immediately chased by the German cruiser Dresden. When she was ordered to stop on 19th September the master took the Ortega into the uncharted Nelson Strait near Cape Horn. While the Dresden waited for her to re-appear the liner, led by two lifeboats taking soundings, traversed 100 miles via the landward side of the Queen Adelaide Archipelago, the Smyth Channel and the Straits of Magellan where she was met by the Chilean warship Admiral Lynch which was searching for survivors. In 1918 she was used to transport American troops to France and in the following year, on 31st January 1919, made the first voyage through the Panama Canal to Valparaiso. She reverted to the southern route to Chile on 4th December 1924 and in 1927 was sold for £19,500 prior to being broken up at Briton Ferry.
Douglas R. Kinnier is listed on Saltcoats WWI memorial: http://www.threetowners.com/Salt%20folder/salt_ww1.htm